In a conventional instrument panel, a vehicle-use meter, which displays the vehicle information, is arranged around a handle or a front-cowl. It is sufficient for an instrument panel to be mounted within a driver's visible range and the vehicle information to be displayed on the vehicle-use meter.
A motorcycle instrument panel of a motorcycle has been proposed which arranges the vehicle-use meter on an upper portion of a fuel tank, as taught in JP-A-2001-114170.
The conventional motorcycle instrument panel is configured as follows. A vehicle-use meter is mounted on an upper portion of a fuel tank. The instrument panel is covered with a meter cover wherein the vehicle-use meter can be viewed through the meter cover. A reset switch for resetting the meter to an initial state and a mode switch for setting meter modes are mounted on an upper surface of the vehicle-use meter. The reset switch and the mode switch are allowed to project from the meter cover so as to enable the manipulation of the reset switch and the mode switch from the upper surface of the meter cover.
However, in the conventional motorcycle instrument panel, manipulation switches (e.g., reset switch and mode switch) are arranged on the upper surface of the meter cover and hence, there has been a drawback that the surface of the vehicle-use meter cover cannot be increased or the meter cover per se becomes large-sized. Another problem with the conventional instrument panel is that a driver can carelessly touch these manipulation switches.
Further, in the conventional motorcycle instrument panel, the vehicle-use meter is covered with the meter cover whereby the vehicle-use meter can be viewed through the meter cover and hence, there has been a problem that the vehicle-use meter is embedded in a portion arranged inwardly (in the depth direction) from the meter cover.
Accordingly, there has been a demand for an instrument panel of a motorcycle which can reduce the likelihood of a rider from carelessly touching the manipulation switches and, at the same time, which can arrange the vehicle-use meter in an easily visible state.